russia, though, is continuing to protect syrian president bashar al assad. obviously, that is the transitional plan that something along the lines of what the rebels would endorse would have assad leaf in the beginning -- leave in the beginning. this june peace plan put forth out of geneva calls for a transitional government, a new constitution and then elections. i don't think there's anybody that has much of a hope of that happening. the only thing that may change the russians' minds is they look at a chance the regime in syria is going to totally collapse meaning russia would lose all of its influence in what was one of its strongest allies around the world. russia may begin to maneuver in the back end solely in their best interests, not necessarily in the best interests of the syrian people. and as we're seeing, the syrian people are really under very, very tough conditions as evidenced by how many of them are fleeing their own country. on the turkish border now 150,000 refugees, that number is now growing exponentially, also on the jordanian border. and